James whittenham



Patented Feb. l4, I899. M

J. WHITTENHA POLISHING DEVI man filed Mar. 16, 1898.)

No. 6l9,378.

4 Fr 11' j? //v Euro/5' ATTORNEYS.

a, .fgmd

W NESSES.

UN Tnn STATES PATENT FFICE.

JAMES \Vl-IITTENHAM, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

POLISHING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 619,378, dated February 14, 1899.

Application filed March 16, 1898. Serial No. 674,077. No model-l 1'0 tall whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMEs WHITTENHAM, of

the city of New York, borough of Manhattan,

in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Polishing Device, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates particularly to devices for polishing or cleaning knives; and the object is to provide a device of this character which shall be simple in construction, comparativelyinexpensive,and by means of which knife-blades may be quickly polished both on the sides and back, and, further, to so construct the device that its polishing-surfaces may be brought to bear evenly upon the sides of the blade from the thick back to the cutting edge.

I will describe a polishing device embodying my invention and then point out the novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a polishing device embodying my invention and showing the same as in use. Fig. 2 is a section through the line 2 2 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 3 is a front end View.

The polishing device comprises abase 1 and a rocking member 2, both here shown as rectangular. Projected upward from the sides of the base and extending the entire length thereof are side pieces or flanges 3, to which the rocking member is pivoted, the pivotal point 4 being intermediate of the ends of said rocking member, for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The lower surface of the rocking member, rearward of the pivotal point, is beveled upward and outward, as at 5, and the opposite surface of the base is beveled downward and outward, as at 6. Thus beveling the parts permits the rocking member to be rocked upward, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. It is to be understood, however, that the same result would obtain were only one of the parts provided with a bevel, or, in fact, the base might terminate slightly rearward of the pivotal point of the rocking member, and in such event it would not be necessary to provide the bevel 5.

The lower surface of the rocking member 2 is provided with a polishing-cushion 7, and the upper surface of the base 1 is provided with a polishing-cushion 8. These cushions may consist of rubber or other suitable material, and, as here shown, they are transversely corrugated. It is designed thata polishing material-such, for instance, as a mixture of emeryor the 1ike-shall be placed 11 pon the polishing-cushions, and by providing the corrugations it is obvious that a considerable supply of polishing material may be provided by forcing it into the corrugations. It will be noted that the corrugations of one cushion pass between or intermesh with the corrugations of the other cushion, so that when the cushions are together the corrugations will take up a small amount of polishing material to operate on the blades.

On theinnersurface of one of the side pieces or flanges 3 is affixed a polishingcushion 9, designed for the polishing of the back of a knife-blade. This cushion 9 extends sub stantially the whole length of the side piece or flange, and the adjacent edge of the rocking member 2 is cut away, as at 10, to accommodate the projection of the cushion 9. One of the members (here shown as the base memher 1) has its top edge surface adjacent to the cushion 9 inclined downward and outward, thus providing a varying space between the polishing-surfaces at this point. The object of this is to provide for the bearing of the polishing-cushions evenly upon the two surfaces of the knife-blade, which, as is well known, is varied in thickness from its back to its cutting edge.

To prevent the device from slipping on a table or other smooth surface, I provide the bottom of the base 1 with rubber plates 11, as here shown, one at each end.

In operation one hand of the operator is to be placed palm down upon the uppersurface of the rocking member, with the fingers projected rearward of the pivotal point 4:, as plainlyindicated in Fig. 1. By exerting pressure with the fingers upon the rocking member rearward of the pivotal point the said member will be rocked, as indicated in Fig. 2. Then the knife-blade may be inserted and the rocking member moved thereon, after which the knife-blade is to be moved back and forth to polish the sides and also to polish the back. Of course at this time the greatest pressure of the hand will be upon the rocking member forward of its pivotal point. After polishing the blade it is only necessary to relieve the pressure forward of the pivotal point and rock the rocking member, as before described, and insert another knife-blade for polishing.

It will be seen by this construction or the arrangement of the rocking member relatively to the base that it is not necessary for an operator to remove his hand from the rocking member during the operation of inserting or removing the knife-blades, as would be the case were the two members hinged together at the extreme rear end.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A polishing device, comprising abase having upwardly-projected side pieces,a rocking member having pivotal connection with the side pieces intermediate of its ends, polishing-cushions on the opposing surfaces of the members, and a polishing-cushion on one of the side pieces, substantially as specified.

2. A polishing device, comprising a base member having upwardly projected side pieces, a rocking member having pivotal connection with said side pieces intermediate of its ends, and corrugated polishing-cushions on the opposing surfaces of the two members, the corrugations of one cushion being arranged t-o inter-mesh with the corrugations of the other cushion, substantially as specified.

3. A polishing device, comprising a base member having upwardly extended side pieces, a rocking member having pivotal connection with said side pieces intermediate of its ends, polishing-cushions on the opposing surfaces of said members, and a polishingcushion attached to the inner surface of one of the side pieces, one of the said members at the side near the last-named polishingcushion being beveled, so as to provide a gradually-increasing distance between the members, substantially as specified.

JAMES WHITTENHAM.

Witnesses:

JNo. M. BITTER, V G. R. FERGUSON. 

